Fast Food and Obesity

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Fast Food and Obesity

• How does fast food affect obesity?
• By Christie Demps

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Fast Paced Lives

• There is a high demand for speedy
  serviceshigh-speed internet, fast drying nail
  polish, fast computers, digital cameras, etc.
• Fast food

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What I Will Discuss

• Overview of obesity. What is it? Its Prevalence
  in the U.S.
• Overview of fast food. What is it? Why do we
  consume so much as Americans? What is the problem
  with it?
• A study discussing the energy density of fast
  food and how this affects weight gain leading to
  obesity.
• Why is studying the affects of fast food on
  obesity important? Changes that have begun to be
  made and can be made in the future to help
  alleviate the problem.

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What is Obesity?

• The condition of being obese increased body
  weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat.
  (BMIgt30)

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Prevalence of Obesity in the U.S.

• According to the National Center for Health
  Statistics, the Prevalence of Overweight and
  Obesity Among Adults in the United States has
  doubled between 1976 and 2002 (15-31).

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What is Fast Food?

• Low in nutrients. High in fat, calories, sodium,
  and/or sugar
• Easy consumption

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Why do we eat fast food?

• Taste
• Prices for fast food are significantly cheaper
  than fresh food.
• The Media
• TV-Commercials are filled with advertisements
  promoting fast food.
• Newspapers- Contain coupons for sales on fast
  food.
• Convenience

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Why is studying fast food and obesity important?

• We as Americans consume so much. If fast food
  does have an affect on obesity, then the
  consumption of it can cause us to have many
  health related problems such as heart disease.

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The Study

• MRC International Nutrition Group, London School
  of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.
• Reviewed a series of studies to demonstrate that
  the energy density of food is a key determinant
  of energy intake.

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The Study Continued

• Collected food composition information from
  leading fast food chains
• Energy density avg. 1100 kJ /100 g -1
• British foods- 525 kJ/ 100 g -1
• African foods- 450 kJ/ 100 g -1
• 3 Experiments altering the amount of fat each
  group consumes

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The Data

• 3 Experiments
• Exp.1- 7 day High fat diet
• Exp. 2.- 7 day Low fat diet
• Exp. 3- Energy density held constant

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The Results

• Exp. 1 and 2- Spontaneously ingested more energy
  on the diet of high energy density and less than
  that on the low energy density. (High-fat
  Hyperphagia)
• Exp. 1- Gained 65g fat/day
• Exp. 2- Lost weight
• no physiological or behavioral compensation by
  the end of day 7 on either
• Exp. 3- High fat hyperphagia was abolished

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What does all of this tell us?

• In summary, physiological experiments illustrate
  the potency by which energy-dense diets can
  undermine the normal processes of appetite
  regulation in humans. This failure of
  physiological regulation causes an accidental
  positive energy balance.

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The Future

• Suggestions for improvement
• to provide and promote a wider range of healthy
  options with low energy density  
• to take steps to reduce the energy density of
  menu items across the board (usually achievable
  by reducing the fat content)  
• to provide clear listings of nutritional
  composition (especially energy and fat) at
  point-of-purchase and on packaging  
• to stop encouraging inappropriately large portion
  sizes through advertising, manipulative price
  structures and pressure selling of additional or
  larger menu items.

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References

• U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
  SERVICESCenters for Disease Control and
  PreventionNational Center for Health Statistics
• http//www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats
  /obese/obse99.htm
• Fast foods, energy density and obesity a
  possible mechanistic link. A. M. Prentice1 and S.
  A. Jebb2. Obesity ReviewsVolume 4 Issue 4 Page
  187  - November 2003